Growing old: Any time soon
In dealing with our ongoing process of aging we have to use all our remaining intellect, skills, strategies and tactics in order not to let go and let the alcohol …
Growing old: Any time soon Read More
Opinion: The blue eyed fundamentalists
The Benefit of the Doubt Scandinavian* politicians truly believe they know how to make things better here in South East Asia; when I learn about their ideas for the future and …
Opinion: The blue eyed fundamentalists Read More
Carsten Dencker Nielsen: A career among 35.000 colleagues
Where Oriental Avenue ends by the Chao Phraya river bank you have the old impressive EAC Bangkok Headquarters to the left. Behind a high wall to the right you find …
Carsten Dencker Nielsen: A career among 35.000 colleagues Read More
New eBook shows Danish Graves in Thailand
“Danish Graves in Thailand” is an eBook published by the Heritage Section of the Scandinavian Society Siam. It presents the status of the currently 68 Danish grave that have been …
New eBook shows Danish Graves in Thailand Read More
Danes “deported” to Thailand
This is about the Danish act determining the legality of travelling patterns of Danish citizens partly staying abroad (outside EU}. Citizens are administratively moved from living in Denmark to having …
Danes “deported” to Thailand Read MoreChristmas – Charity
I once carried out research in Al Samra, a big well-off village of mostly market traders, situated in the desert 40 kilometers from Khartoum, Sudan. One day I was invited or …
Christmas – Charity Read MoreLieutenant–Colonel August Theodor Frederic Kolls (1867 -1911)
Feared as a drillmaster, admired for his courage and determination. For many years the most prominent relic on the desk of Colonel August Kolls was the polished skull of Ai …
Lieutenant–Colonel August Theodor Frederic Kolls (1867 -1911) Read MoreNo such thing as ‘Society’
Margaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady, once said: “There is no such thing as Society, there are individual men and women and there are families” ….’and then there is the law …
No such thing as ‘Society’ Read MoreWhat is Networking
When words and concepts have been used much and for a long time they become tired from overuse. Not only that: the organizations or firms behind this constant use appear …
What is Networking Read MoreThainess
The concept of Thainess is being used and discussed in various media, often under the headline: ‘Foreigners don’t understand Thainess’, or ‘Foreigners are not able to reach the core of …
Thainess Read MoreThe house on India Quay
Asia House was the first Head Quarters of East Asiatic Company in Denmark. The building remains an impressive statement to the solidity of the EAC. Sitting on a high …
The house on India Quay Read MoreWitches
The 23 of June fires are built on the hills in a country way up north in Europe. On this, the longest day of the year, dusk comes at 9 pm; …
Witches Read MoreNang Boon Sri and Nai Rasmus Havmoeller in Siam and Ebeltoft
On 29th August 1926 Rasmus Havmoeller wrote in his diary about his first tiger (in my translation): “We followed the tracks of the buffalo and after some time we realized …
Nang Boon Sri and Nai Rasmus Havmoeller in Siam and Ebeltoft Read MoreErik Seidenfaden: Exodus
In 1907, the Danish Captain of The Royal Siamese Gendarmerie Erik Seidenfaden was in charge of a huge convoy moving the Thai Governor-general out of the now French Cambodia. The …
Erik Seidenfaden: Exodus Read MoreThe Queen and the Captain
It never came out in the open how the Queen of Siam and the Danish Captain Hans Anton Andersen spent their time together in the paradise called Bang Phra and …
The Queen and the Captain Read MoreDr. Einar Ammundsen – the Centre of the Community
The lively Danish doctor lived 50 years of joy in Thailand. When in Aarhus, Denmark, I often pass Tage Hansensgade and it goes through the head: ‘But who was Tage …
Dr. Einar Ammundsen – the Centre of the Community Read MoreFort Denmark
Denmark’s embassy in Thailand has over the last ten years been marred by the construction of several ugly anti-terror protection measures. I suggest we tear down these useless arrangements and …
Fort Denmark Read MoreCarl Bock (2): The Wilderness and The Power
In this second article about the Norwegian explorer and scientist Carl Bock we follow his journey to the North of what is now Thailand. Carl Bock left Bangkok the 9th …
Carl Bock (2): The Wilderness and The Power Read MoreWhere the Waters Meet – Pak Nam Pho
The confluence of the Nan river and the Ping river that form the ChaoPhraya river is an interesting place to visit when you know its historical importance among others for …
Where the Waters Meet – Pak Nam Pho Read MoreCarl Bock: A Scientist among Ghosts and White Elephants
In June 1881 the Norwegian explorer and scientist Carl Bock sailed up Chao Phraya River on board the steamship ‘Kongsee’ from Singapore. The ship passed the newly constructed and impressive …
Carl Bock: A Scientist among Ghosts and White Elephants Read MoreFundamental Differences
Scandinavian and Thai people have many things in common, but also some that set us fundamentally apart. The typical European addiction to perfection is one. The equally deep rooted Thai …
Fundamental Differences Read MoreKristian Bø: Steady As You Go
It’s ten minutes to two on a grey afternoon in September 2011. From my seat in the little old fashioned café on Sukhumvit, I spot my appointment entering the main …
Kristian Bø: Steady As You Go Read MoreThey excavated the Stone Age
The Danish-Thai archaeological work in Kanchanaburi Province 1960-1968. At five in the morning the valley around us is still in complete darkness and almost silent, even the Kwai River …
They excavated the Stone Age Read MoreWalter Christmas – The Fox in the Hen House
Danish Naval Officer Walter Christmas’ sharp eye recorded a very candid picture of Bangkok in the early 1890’s. The year is 1894 and the place a sleepy Copenhagen inside the ramparts. In the provincial atmosphere of the tiny little country …
Walter Christmas – The Fox in the Hen House Read More
Phraya Vasuthep: The Good Danish Soldier of Fortune
Major General Gustav Schau – known in Thailand as Phraya Vasuthep – started in 1897 building up the Royal Thai Provincial Gendarmerie – an elite military police force under Interior …
Phraya Vasuthep: The Good Danish Soldier of Fortune Read MoreThe Wet Graves in Bangkok
Not many places in this city reach the distinguished age of 155 years. Let’s visit a place of both historical and religious interest and importance that must be protected. …
The Wet Graves in Bangkok Read MoreThe Hard Wood and Work
EAC obtained its second teak concession around year 1900, this time in and beyond Phrae Province, Northern Thailand. It was really in a big scale; the land, fully allocated, was …
The Hard Wood and Work Read MoreH.N. Andersen: Myths & Realities
The founder of ØK, (EAC), Hans Niels Andersen (1852-1937) is a fascinating and impressive figure in Danish and Siamese shipping and industrial history, but I have been hesitant writing about him. …
H.N. Andersen: Myths & Realities Read More
Aage Westenholz – the First Expert
He was in a hurry; the too little portion of dynamite, pyroxilin-cotton gunpowder and waterproof cables had arrived only the day before and the French gunboats Comete and Inconstante could …
Aage Westenholz – the First Expert Read MoreElephants Are Elephants – and Symbols
As children we knew about the Thai elephants; we visited the Zoo and they were important parts of a Danish child’s creativity and fantasies. I also came to admire these …
Elephants Are Elephants – and Symbols Read MoreThe ‘Danish’ Tachin Railway
A special railway line from Banghkok to Samut Songkram has an unknown Danish background. On the 10th of June 1906, a fishing boat under sails approached a fishing village called …
The ‘Danish’ Tachin Railway Read MoreCaptain and Consul Frederik Carl Christian Købke, 1837 – 1881
In ‘The Danish Geographical Journal, Vol. 1 1877’, there is an article about Siam, modern written and without all the usual prejudices of that time. It starts: “When I landed …
Captain and Consul Frederik Carl Christian Købke, 1837 – 1881 Read MoreThe Old Farangs
When checking in at this little neat guesthouse north of Kanchanaburi, I was warmly greeted by Tok the cashier. She is a 51-year-old lady with lots of humor in her …
The Old Farangs Read MoreAdmiral Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu as Entrepreneur
When the Admiral left Siam in 1902 it was onboard the Royal Yacht ‘Maha Chakri’ bound for Singapore, from where he would sail to Europe with one of the regular …
Admiral Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu as Entrepreneur Read More
Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu: The Admiral Who Went Ashore
In books and articles, Richelieu has largely been portrayed as either white or black, as an untouchable icon or as an unscrupulous capitalist. We tend to judge the past with …
Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu: The Admiral Who Went Ashore Read MoreThe Dane Who Saved the North
Captain Hans Marqvard Jensen was born in Denmark in 1878. In 1900 around Christmas he arrived Bangkok as a Premier Lieutenant at the age of 22. Two years later he …
The Dane Who Saved the North Read More